Certainly, the depth of the water underneath, in front of and to the sides of a diving board is an important safety consideration and hopefully you as a coach teach your divers to always check the depth of any water prior to diving in head first -- especially at new or unfamiliar pools.
With the start of the summer diving season upon us, take a moment to remind your divers again to do this. WHY? Because often times, the diving "well" or "hopper" at summer pools is not as big and not as deep as the pools where your divers train year round. There is a BIG difference between 12 feet of water and 10 feet of water. There is a BIG difference between 17 feet of water and 13 feet of water -- the bottom comes up quickly!!
If your diver is used to practicing in a pool that is 13 feet deep and then they go to their summer swim club where the pool is only 11 feet deep -- they need to be aware of that and they need to make adjustments when they enter the water. Similarly, if your divers go to a diving camp this summer where the water is 17 feet deep and then they come back to your regular practice pool where the water is a very safe 13 feet deep -- your divers must still be VERY CAREFUL until they re-adjust their bearings and get used to the different water depth.
Diving is a VERY SAFE SPORT under supervised conditions and by using a little common sense. Let' s make sure we all enjoy a SAFE summer of diving!!
Showing posts with label summer league diving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer league diving. Show all posts
Monday, June 2, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Three Step or Four Step?
When I first started coaching diving, we always taught new or beginner divers a three-step approach and hurdle. It was simple or so I thought -- less steps meant less things for "little Johnny" to remember.
THE REVELATION:
I remember hosting an annual clinic for local diving coaches -- most of whom were current or former divers who had summer coaching jobs at local swim or country clubs. I remember it like it was yesterday -- I gave my little talk on how to teach the three step-approach and hurdle and one of the young coaches at the clinic asked why I did not teach a four-step approach and hurdle. I told her that as the diver got older and had developed more skills, that was indeed what I would do. She asked me again, why I did not teach NEW divers a four-step approach and hurdle. I told her that less steps meant less to remember for young divers and she said that she liked to teach new divers a FOUR-step approach and hurdle for the simple fact that the diver would start the approach and hurdle with the SAME LEG!! I paused for a moment and thought -- GENIUS -- why didn't I think of that? It IS so simple now -- young divers who were always forgetting which leg is used to take the first step and then which leg to lift in the hurdle, can certainly remember to start their approach and hurdle with the same leg. All I needed to do was ask them which hand they used to eat, write or throw a baseball and that is the same leg I told them to start their approach and then lift in their hurdle.
That became my NEW method and I have used it on NEW divers ever since!
NOTE: For many summer diving leagues, the rules are pretty vague so for very young divers, I suppose you could teach and use a TWO-step approach and hurdle (Same starting foot / hurdle leg and less things to remember!)
THE REVELATION:
I remember hosting an annual clinic for local diving coaches -- most of whom were current or former divers who had summer coaching jobs at local swim or country clubs. I remember it like it was yesterday -- I gave my little talk on how to teach the three step-approach and hurdle and one of the young coaches at the clinic asked why I did not teach a four-step approach and hurdle. I told her that as the diver got older and had developed more skills, that was indeed what I would do. She asked me again, why I did not teach NEW divers a four-step approach and hurdle. I told her that less steps meant less to remember for young divers and she said that she liked to teach new divers a FOUR-step approach and hurdle for the simple fact that the diver would start the approach and hurdle with the SAME LEG!! I paused for a moment and thought -- GENIUS -- why didn't I think of that? It IS so simple now -- young divers who were always forgetting which leg is used to take the first step and then which leg to lift in the hurdle, can certainly remember to start their approach and hurdle with the same leg. All I needed to do was ask them which hand they used to eat, write or throw a baseball and that is the same leg I told them to start their approach and then lift in their hurdle.
That became my NEW method and I have used it on NEW divers ever since!
NOTE: For many summer diving leagues, the rules are pretty vague so for very young divers, I suppose you could teach and use a TWO-step approach and hurdle (Same starting foot / hurdle leg and less things to remember!)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Practice Under Meet Conditions!
Often times, I will see a diver during practice who will balk, break position or otherwise give-up on a dive because of a bad hurdle, takeoff or any number of other situations that always seem to crop up. The coach will remind the diver that if they do that in a meet, they will probably receive lower scores from the judges or in the case of a balk, have a scoring penalty imposed. The diver usually shrugs and says" I won't do that in a meet!"
I DISAGREE!!
It has been my experience that a diver does in a meet, what they do in practice. This is why you practice!! Teach your divers that they need to "practice under meet conditions." They need to be able to do all of their dives without balking or breaking position. They need to be able to do all of their dives with any hurdle or any takeoff and they need to be able to do all of their dives without regard to any other adverse conditions such as cold water or air temperature, early morning events, rain, wind, bright sunlight, bad equipment, etc.
discipline, Discipline, DISCIPLINE!!
This all goes back to teaching your divers HOW to dive and not just teaching them dives.
I DISAGREE!!
It has been my experience that a diver does in a meet, what they do in practice. This is why you practice!! Teach your divers that they need to "practice under meet conditions." They need to be able to do all of their dives without balking or breaking position. They need to be able to do all of their dives with any hurdle or any takeoff and they need to be able to do all of their dives without regard to any other adverse conditions such as cold water or air temperature, early morning events, rain, wind, bright sunlight, bad equipment, etc.
discipline, Discipline, DISCIPLINE!!
This all goes back to teaching your divers HOW to dive and not just teaching them dives.
Monday, April 28, 2008
FUNdamentals, FUNdamentals, FUNdamentals
Now that the summer diving season is right around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to remind all coaches -- especially first-time coaches about the importance of teaching FUNDAMENTALS to your divers.
The biggest "coaching" mistake I see from young and inexperienced coaches, is trying to teach young divers "hard" dives when they cannot do the "easy" fundamentals of our sport. I am talking about "GOOD FORM" -- that is legs straight, feet together, toes pointed -- and VERTICAL entry with little or no splash. It makes no sense to teach a young diver difficult dives if they cannot keep their feet together on an easy dive. In the same way, it makes no sense to have a young diver do a front double somersault and land in the water like a bowling ball when that same diver could do a Front 1 1/2 S.S. and go straight in the water -- these are COACHING ERRORS that simply will not score well from the judges. Keep in mind that higher judges' scores almost always beats higher DD (Degree of Difficulty). It is almost always better to do an easier dive well than to do a hard dive poorly.
Make a habit of spending the first 10-15 minutes of your summer league practice (every day) teaching divers "Good Form" and teaching them how to enter the water as close to vertical as possible. Make a game or a competition out of it to keep the kids interested and to trick them into learning the "boring" stuff that will pay big dividends in the long run.
The biggest "coaching" mistake I see from young and inexperienced coaches, is trying to teach young divers "hard" dives when they cannot do the "easy" fundamentals of our sport. I am talking about "GOOD FORM" -- that is legs straight, feet together, toes pointed -- and VERTICAL entry with little or no splash. It makes no sense to teach a young diver difficult dives if they cannot keep their feet together on an easy dive. In the same way, it makes no sense to have a young diver do a front double somersault and land in the water like a bowling ball when that same diver could do a Front 1 1/2 S.S. and go straight in the water -- these are COACHING ERRORS that simply will not score well from the judges. Keep in mind that higher judges' scores almost always beats higher DD (Degree of Difficulty). It is almost always better to do an easier dive well than to do a hard dive poorly.
Make a habit of spending the first 10-15 minutes of your summer league practice (every day) teaching divers "Good Form" and teaching them how to enter the water as close to vertical as possible. Make a game or a competition out of it to keep the kids interested and to trick them into learning the "boring" stuff that will pay big dividends in the long run.
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